AP, IB, and dual enrollment. Which is better for college admission? The answer depends quite a lot on one’s priorities and preferences. But it’s an important question as students enter high school and are faced with a variety of curricular choices.
A reader recently wrote in to ask my opinion about dual enrollment courses. She wanted to compare them to the Advanced Placement (or AP) options at her son’s school. The question came from a post I wrote analyzing the worth of AP courses. Since she is not the only one to pose the question, let’s dive into the particulars of these two programs and compare them as best we can–with an eye to their relative importance in college admissions.
What Is Dual Enrollment?
First, a brief word of explanation about “dual enrollment,” or “post-secondary enrollment options.” Virtually all states allow high school students to enroll in community college or university courses. These courses also apply the credits earned to their high school transcript. Students enroll twice: they earn both high school AND college credits for the same course. In some cases, community college faculty offer these courses in high school, while in other cases, the high school student must travel to the community college campus.
In other cases, community college faculty “approve” or certify high school faculty to offer a college-level course after the college has approved the syllabus.
In most cases, parents pay an extra fee for a dual enrollment course. However, the good thing is that this fee translates to college credits that can often (but not always) be transferred to a university when the student graduates from high school (more on that in a moment).
No matter how these dual enrollment courses are organized, dually enrolled students receive two sorts of credit for their work. They receive grades on their high school transcript, and the same grades are recorded on their college transcripts.
Two birds, one stone.
Advantages of Dual Enrollment
The advantages of dual enrollment courses include:
- High schools can offer honors-level courses without hiring new staff
- Districts can save money by partnering with community colleges
- Parents can save on college tuition because these college credits are transferable to most state universities
- Students demonstrate that they can handle college-level work
- Students who doubt their own abilities to succeed in college experience success and are more likely to apply to college–and eventually graduate
- Community colleges and 4-year institutions build a pipeline of students moving from high school to college
- State governments and local governments appreciate the collaboration between K-12 and higher education
In states where dual enrollment options exist, the state government creates master articulation agreements to ensure that credits earned while in high school are guaranteed transfer to higher education systems in that state. Thus, if you take a dual enrollment course in Virginia, your credits are automatically accepted for credit by state-funded universities in Virginia–as long as the grade earned is a C- or above, and as long as the courses are considered academic, “general education” course (as opposed to remedial or developmental courses, or technical or industrial skills courses).
To restate, credits for dual enrollment courses taken in high school will automatically–guaranteed–transfer to universities in the same state. As long as the student performs adequately in the dual enrollment course, they will receive college credit. The biggest advantage here is cost savings: those are courses the student (and family) will not have to pay for on the way to a college degree.
Are Dual Enrollment Credits Transferable In-State?
To restate, credits for dual enrollment courses taken in high school will automatically–guaranteed–transfer to universities in the same state. As long as students perform adequately in the dual enrollment course, they will receive college credit. The biggest advantage here is cost savings: those are courses the student (and family) will not have to pay for on the way to a college degree. A dual credit history course taken at a high school in Virginia is the functional and administrative equivalent of a history course at the University of Virginia.
Are Dual Enrollment Credits Transferable Out-of-State?
With regard to whether dual enrollment credits are accepted by universities in other states, the landscape becomes a bit more random. Many publicly-funded state colleges and universities will likely accept dual enrollment credits from another state as long as the credits are listed on a transcript from an accredited community college or university. Universities in Colorado, therefore, will accept credits from Florida, as long as they are academic in nature and the student has earned a grade of C- or above.
However, a receiving university (in the above example, the University of Colorado) would review exactly which courses would be transferred and how they would be counted towards the CU degree only after the student has applied and been accepted to CU. Most universities operate in this way: they tell you that “generally speaking,” courses are easily transferred, but they don’t give any specifics until after you are enrolled and they make a detailed determination of how the credits will be applied to your Bachelors degree.
Part of the reason for this is that dual enrollment credits may be counted differently depending on the major you pursue. For example, your dual enrollment college algebra course might not count toward your math requirements for an engineering degree, though it might count as an elective if you are an art history major.
Nevertheless, it almost always benefits a student to collect dual enrollment credits as a way to reduce the cost of college and, potentially, decrease the time to the degree. If, for example, all the courses a student takes in her junior and senior years of high school are classified as dual enrollment, then effectively that student conceivably could enter as a first semester JUNIOR in college (depending on where the credits are and how they conform to the university’s graduation and major requirements).
Readers should be aware, therefore, that different states have different rules about how they handle dual enrollment credits from out-of-state students. Do not assume that every dual enrollment credit will be automatically transferred. As with everything in the world of college admissions, you need to do the research to find the answers you need. Policies like this shift all the time, and you need to verify what your desired universities will do with those dual enrollment credits.
Do Dual Enrollment Credits Transfer to Private Universities?
Private colleges are a different matter, however. As private entities, they are free to establish their own transfer criteria. Here again, it is best to check in advance of applying what the college’s policy toward dual enrollment credits will be. Some will be happy to transfer the courses in, as long as their college offers an equivalent course. Others may require a grade of B or better to transfer. And some may not transfer any of your dual enrollment courses at all. Some of the more selective colleges may use dual enrollment credits only to waive prerequisites or for placement purposes.
One thing is clear, however: colleges and universities of all types smile upon applicants who have completed dual enrollment courses. These courses demonstrate the ability to do college-level work, and they send the signal to admissions offices that this student is likely to succeed in college–because they have been challenged in college-level curricula.
Which is Better, AP, IB or DE?
The answer is: it depends.
First, some schools are unable to offer both AP and dual enrollment courses. In fact, rural high schools are much more likely to rely on dual enrollment courses than AP, because dual enrollment is less expensive to the school district–especially if there is not enough demand to fill a complete AP course. And IB programs are rare because this program is both expensive and affects the entire curriculum offerings at a school that adopts the program. So if there is no AP or IB option in your school, you should definitely consider dual enrollment options. (If you want to dig into whether you should select an AP or IB curriculum, check out this post that compares the IB and AP programs.)
Second, if your goal is to reduce the costs of attending a state university, dual enrollment credits are a guaranteed discount. Because states automatically require these courses to transfer, any PSEO course you take will reduce the number of credits you must complete (and pay for!) while in college. As long you dually enroll in a college prep course and you get a C- or better, you get the college credit.
The AP tests and the IB diploma program, by contrast, come with high-stakes tests: take the course and then take the test. If you pass an AP test with a score of 3, 4, or 5, you might get college credit. The amount of credit would depend on the policy in place at a particular college or university. But note that your grade in the AP course has no bearing on whether you get college credit. The credit you receive depends on your score on the exam. Thus you could get an A+ in your AP US History class, but get a 2 on the test–in which was you would receive no credit anywhere (well, you’d get the high school credit that leads to your high school diploma, but it would not give you any benefit once you arrive at college).
The Benefit of Standardized Testing
The AP tests and the IB exams are standardized. They are normed tests. Thus, presumably, a score of 5 on the AP Chemistry means the same thing, no matter whether student attended a private school in Connecticut, a rural public school in Alabama, or an international school in Uruguay. Similarly, a perfect 7 on the IB English A exam would be considered the same no matter where in the world the student attended secondary school.
By contrast, an A in that dual enrollment chemistry class might or might not be the educational equivalent of a chemistry class in another location. Some high schools have higher standards than others, some community colleges have higher standards than others, and some individual teachers have higher standards than others (a fact that every high school student everywhere understands). Dual enrollment courses are not standardized. There is no “norm.” An A in one place could be different from an A in another.
Thus, highly selective universities in the United States tend to favor AP and IB exam results over dual enrollment credits. Not only are the highly selective less likely to grant you the credits you receive in dual enrollment courses, they are more likely to discount the value of those courses, especially if you had the opportunity to take those rigorous AP or IB courses in your school or community.
Third, if your school has a strong AP program that has a history of success in helping students earn 4s and 5s on the AP test, you might want to consider the AP courses if you plan to attend a highly selective college or university. The reason is this: the AP test is a demonstration of proficiency and competence in a subject matter.
While credit is a demonstration that you did what the teacher or professor required of you, the AP test is a nationally-normed test (and the IB is globally-normed). A score of 5 on an AP test communicates that are you a good student who can handle college-level work, that you are capable of performing well on cumulative examinations, and that you have demonstrated a high degree of mastery of the subject matter. This is why selective colleges and universities strongly prefer AP and IB results over grades in dual enrollment courses.
So Should You Take Dual Enrollment or AP Classes?
Again, it depends. Remember that not every student has a choice, as not every school offers AP courses while most public high schools are able to offer dual enrollment options.
If your goal is to reduce the cost of your college education and you plan to go to a public university in-state, there is no doubt that dual enrollment options are going to save you money and reduce the time necessary to earn your college degree. For the vast majority of Americans, the dual enrollment option is the smartest choice. No high stakes exams. No doubts as to the ability to transfer credits to college. Take those dual enrollment courses, get good grades, and get through college more quickly and more cheaply.
If your goal is to attend one of the most selective colleges and universities in the United States–and your high school offers them–then take the AP or IB courses on offer. They are considered by admissions offers at these universities to be more rigorous, and the cumulative examinations at the end of the course demonstrate clearly how you stack up against other students taking the same subject across the country (or across the world).
The Caveat: Your High School’s Pass Rate on the AP Exams
Standardized tests, despite their flaws, do help admissions officers compare apples to apples. They help to separate grades from proficiency. High scores provide external verification that the grades a student earns are an expression of content mastery.
However, as we have noted, not all teachers are the same. The AP curriculum is challenging and rigorous. Not every teacher is either trained or experienced in delivering this curriculum. For example, there is a low-performing high school in my community where nearly 80% of the teachers are first-year teachers–every year! AP courses at this school are being taught be very, very inexperienced teachers.
Therefore if you are considering AP courses offered at your school, ask questions and do some investigating. Some schools have very low pass rates on the AP exams. Even students who get high grades in their AP courses core only 1 or 2 on the exams. (In other words, these students fail and will absolutely not receive any college credit, nor will they be able to brag about their high scores on their college applications).
Just because a course is labeled AP does not mean that it is a good course. Nor does the label mean that a student will achieve the level of mastery required to score a 5 on the AP exam. Many, many schools across the country offer AP courses that are very poorly taught. Many teachers simply do not have the content background or pedagogical skills to prepare students for these rigorous exams.
The College Board is trying to ratchet up the standards. They know that parents are noticing the disconnect between the brand name and teacher preparedness. Efforts by the College Board to verify AP syllabi in all courses labeled AP is a good start. But in the end, success in the AP (or IB) program is not about the curriculum alone. It is about the teacher who delivers that curriculum.
As a quick aside, huge variances between classroom grades and results on the IB exams are less common–though they do happen. The most important reason for this is that schools that adopt the IB program pay very high fees to participate in the program, the syllabi are much more standardized, and the International Baccalaureate Organization requires schools to train their teachers in the delivery of these syllabi. Schools that have been offering the IB curriculum for many years are generally pretty good at delivering the program and helping students to achieve good results. Nevertheless, it is important for students and parents to inquire about a secondary school’s IB pass rates before enrolling in the program.
Jaime Escalante of Stand and Deliver fame enabled his poor, inner-city students to pass the AP calculus exam. He was a fantastic, talented, workaholic teacher who did not rest until his students passed that exam. Teachers in your school’s AP program may resemble Mr. Escalante. Or they may resemble Mr. Larson. He was my high school math teacher. He was as creative as a lima bean and as dedicated as an assembly line worker two weeks before retirement. An AP syllabus in his hands would make it highly unlikely that anyone but Einstein himself would pass that AP Calculus exam.
A Student Vouches for the Value of Dual Enrollment Courses
Over the years, students have read my blog and written to me to share their own experiences and insights. A young woman who attended the College of William and Mary read this post a while back and took the time to write to me to advocate for dual enrollment courses. She attended a high school in Virginia and then enrolled at the selective, public liberal arts college in that state. I think it’s worth quoting this letter in full, because it speaks to the priorities and choices students face as they choose the right path for themselves. There is no right and wrong answer to the question, “which is better, AP or dual enrollment classes?”. Each student and family must make decide what makes the most sense given their values, priorities, and preferences.
So thank you, Sarah, for writing in with your opinion, and I’m happy to share it below.
Mark Montgomery
College Counselor
Great College Advice
Mark,
As a current college student, I vouch for the dual enrollment option when high school students are looking through their course options. I went to a very small, rural high school in Virginia, and had the opportunity to take DE credit classes through local community colleges. I finished at the top of my class and I am currently an academic junior at the College of William and Mary.
During my freshman year in college, I came to find that a majority of my friends took AP classes, got an A or a high B in the class, but couldn’t get a 4 or 5 on their AP exam (mind you, these students came from great private and public high schools all over the country, each with its own long-standing AP track). William and Mary requires a score of 4 or 5 to get credit from an AP course. I can’t tell you how many of my friends got burned by taking AP. All 39 of my dual enrollment credits transferred and I am graduating in 3 years.
A lot of really great colleges and universities require high AP scores. So it is very important to do your research on the school you wish to attend. Taking an AP class may look good on a transcript. But how good will it look when the student doesn’t pass the exam with the necessary score? I feel like AP is put up on this pedestal as being the best of the best. However, there is nothing wrong with dual enrollment classes, and taking DE doesn’t mean that one could not handle the supposed “harder” AP course load. I can assure you, the classes I took through my governor’s school were more than challenging.
Best of luck,
Sarah
